hmm heard from the news that gps will obsolete in a few years time due to low maintenance of the the satelites.

is it true?

Each GPS satellite will have limited supply of fuel for its jet to align itself from time to time. Also wear and tear. US are sending up GPS satellite from time to time to replace or have more satellite at certain area for better accuracy and faster response by GPS devices to pick up more signals.

GPS is mainly used by US for its military. It will not be obsolete unless US comes up with something new. It will be there for a long long time. And US will bear the cost of sending it up, as part of it are funded by the Dept. of Defense. We will still get it for free.

During Cold War, Russians develop their own "satellite navigation" system, called GLONASS. Google/Wiki to read further.

Western Europe also beh tahan. Kiasu and wants its own system. Hence EU comes up with Galileo

I would say GLONASS will not be popular, but Galileo will be something to play with in coming years to compete/complement GPS.

Satellite navigation is useful for many things such as road construction, toll fare collection, carbon emission tax based on distance/area travelled, etc. which are mainly implemented in EU.